This season’s UEFA Champions League tournament will be the biggest change for soccer fans in the United States since the games moved from ESPN to FOX Sports in 2009.
The big changes mean that there are some big winners and losers. Here’s our breakdown of who will win and lose based on the massive changes:
Biggest winners
1. UEFA. While there will be far fewer Champions League games on English-language television in the United States, the biggest winner will be UEFA courtesy of many games being televised on the over-the-air Univision channel. The network has an estimated national reach of 182,330,440 Americans, making Univision the largest U.S. broadcast television network by total market reach.
That will translate into massive TV ratings for the Spanish-language broadcaster. And looking at the schedule for the first week of the UEFA Champions League coverage, the prognosis looks good given that the games will feature Barcelona-PSV, Real Madrid-Roma and Liverpool-PSG.
The end result should be record-breaking TV viewing numbers for UEFA in the United States.
2. Spanish-speakers (and bilinguals). Starting this season, the UEFA Champions League has moved from sporadic coverage on FOX Deportes and ESPN Deportes to more games on Spanish-language TV than ever before. Under the new deal, at times there’ll be up to four UEFA Champions League matches airing on TV at the same time on different Spanish-league channels: Univision (simulcast on Univision Deportes), UniMas and Galavision.
Whether you’re a Spanish-speaker or not, Univision is the go-to destination for the UEFA Champions League on TV.
3. Soccer fans. On each matchday, the UEFA Champions League will now feature double-headers beginning at 12:55pm ET and 3pm ET. That translates into more opportunities to watch live Champions League matches than ever before instead of, like in the past, picking and choosing which 2:45pm ET kickoff to watch.
More soccer is always a good thing especially when it comes to the UEFA Champions League.
4. fuboTV subscribers. Out of all of the legal streaming services available, fuboTV has a significant advantage in that it includes all of the TNT and Univision TV channels streaming the UEFA Champions League games as well as access to Univision Now so you can stream whichever games you can’t see on TV. fuboTV offers a free 7-day trial.
Unfortunately, Sling TV is in a dispute with Univision so none of the Univision channels are available via the popular streaming service. None of the Univision channels (including Galavision) are available on PlayStation Vue. And YouTube TV still isn’t available nationwide.
One alternative is to subscribe to a TV or streaming provider that offers TNT, and then subscribe to B/R Live separately for $9.99 per month.
SEE MORE: Schedule of UEFA Champions League games on US TV and streaming
Biggest losers
1. Manchester United fans. When was the last time a Manchester United UEFA Champions League match was not televised in the United States? In previous rights cycles, the worst that United supporters had to experience was a match on FS2, which in itself was a rarity. But the first Manchester United Champions League game of the 2018/19 season won’t be shown live on television anywhere in the United States — not on TNT nor the Univision networks. The only option is to stream the game.
2. Non-streamers. If you don’t have a reliable Internet connection, you’re unfortunately going to miss out on a lot of Champions League soccer this season. But if you have a TV and a WiFi or hard-wired Internet connection, consider the following tips on how to stream games to your TV.
3. Pubs and bars across the country. In previous years, finding pubs and bars that showed Champions League games on their TV sets was pretty straightforward. Most establishments had FS1 and FS2. But now pubs, bars and supporters groups nationwide will need to be doing their homework ahead of games to see if they even get some of the channels that will air the games.
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I remember when FOX showed Manchester United vs Moscow instead of Bayern PSG. Yes, it boosted ratings, but they didn’t put the right game on. I’m so glad Turner is sensible and is putting Real vs Roma instead of Young Boys Man U.
This new deal is total Bullsh%t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Americans who speak ENGLISH and those who follow the Premier League are now screws in the USA!!!! Why is are Spanish teams Real and Barcelona on TNT week one while English teams Tottenham and Man United are both relegated to web streaming and Spanish networks that no one can see???? This is a complete scam!!!!
Why are Spanish networks getting broadcast rights and not English speaking networks in the USA? EPL teams are almost completely eliminated from US English TV broadcasts….. The execs want to force fans to buy added subscription to watch the lame BR web stream for $10 a month!!!! SO in other words the fans has to pay more for less… BULLSH%T!!!!
Totally agree.
Henry, Your logic is lame…. So why is Barca vs PSV on TNT instead of a much better match in Tottenham vs Inter Milan????
If B/R live doesnt stream in 60fps it will look all studdery and choppy on my 4k tv. So that is a big loss. I hate streaming compared to directv.
Try turning off the Auto Motion, Motion Smoothing, Motion Processing, or anything similarly named by your manufacturer. Not to standard or auto or simple but off or disabled.
It should be off by default.
As in, it should be off by default, not that when you buy it, it is turned off. The extra hz images are nothing but computer interpolated images.
Does anyone who has Comcast have Galavision in HD? I live in suburban Chicago and can’t get the HD feed. Are they holding back the HD feed for some reason like they did with other channels?
We do in Minneapolis
Comcast does not carry Galavision in HD… My Comcast only has regular def on ch 366….
No Univision affiliate in my area (only Telemundo) so we lose as well.
Chris, is Univision Now available to authenticate with a cable subscription, and is it a possible work around to needing to get B/R Live to watch all the matches?
Not Chris but you need to authenticate on Univision Deportes site to get all the games not on the networks. Univision Now just has the ones airing on networks. During the play in round there was no need to authenticate but I would be surprised if that’s still the case.
Yes, you can authenticate with a cable subscription if you have AT&T U-Verse, Cox, Optimum, Spectrum, Fios, Frontier, Google Fiber, RCN, Atlantic Broadband, Grande Communications or DIRECTV NOW (as well as fuboTV).
It’s certainly a workaround to avoid needing to subscribe to B/R Live.
Thanks, another reason to be thankful for having FIOS rather than Xfinity.
Champions League is the one time I don’t mind streaming since at work anyway. Spanish commentary will be harder to tell when to toggle over and view during big moments since they seem excited ALL the time though.
Don’t understand B/R allowing others to stream the non televised matches when that is basically the only reason to give them $10 a month. Turner may have to rethink their business model for soccer coverage.
Technically, B/R isn’t allowing anyone to stream the non-televised games other than themselves. But they only have the English-language rights. Univision paid hundreds of millions for the rights to the Spanish-language rights for both TV and streaming.
There isn’t a clear way (to me) to watch a non televised game on demand via the Univision login. If the match is on a linear Univision network during the day while you are at work, that can possibly be DVR’d. If it is an extra game that only the Univision site gives you access to, don’t you have to watch it live?
If so, that’s a benefit to subscribing to B/R (which will allow you to watch replays).
Good point, I’ve never been patient enough to actually avoid checking the score of a match I was unable to watch live except for the 2015 UCL final, so not an issue on that front. Seems like this will only be an issue for the group stage matches, as the knockout rounds should all be on TV somewhere (TNT or Univision) and available to DVR.
What about people who are actually at work in the afternoon? Before all I needed was a DVR, what options are there now for non televised matches being watched that evening without knowing the result.
I’ve looked at B/R live on the Roku and it is pretty much unusable…
Retro, agreed. Christopher, respectfully disagree. I don’t see how soccer fans are the biggest winners. Yes, we might have more options, but if we don’t speak Spanish and the game isn’t on TNT then we have to subscribe to B/R Live. And, since many work during the day, we have to wait a full 24 hours to watch a replay on B/R Live because they don’t have a DVR function. And, waiting 24 hours means we have to stay away from all news outlets, social media, etc in order not to accidentally see the match result.
I’m astounded that TNT/B/R Live didn’t think to add DVR function to their new service…. I mean pretty much every new streaming platform has a DVR function because consumers demanded it….. and they don’t think to do this from the start?!
Interesting, I work during the day as well and I didn’t have any trouble on B/R Live watching a replay of the final Champions League qualifiers that same evening. I think this would have been roughly 3 hours after the games had ended. I use the website so perhaps this varies by device.
That’s strange, but good. Their website says that replays are available 24 hours after the match.
Univision networks are not available on PS Vue. I think that was what was intended instead of saying that only Galavision is not available on PS Vue.
For the Gaffer:
Chris, thank you for all the info on the subject of streaming. For someone who doesn’t speak Spanish, could you possibly do an article on how to synchronise an English audio commentary from a different source (e.g. TalkSport) whilst watching Univison. In the past, because of time delays I’ve found it impossible to delay the audio sufficiently not to spoil what I’m watching (i.e. “goal”, two or more seconds before the ball hits the net).
Hi David, it’s a good suggestion but I don’t have much experience syncing up the audio and video. If any of the readers would like to volunteer and write the article, I’d be more than happy to publish it. If interested, please contact me at editorial@worldsoccertalk.com
I did this some during the World Cup to avoid the Fox announcers. When I had a stream that was consistent, it worked great. When the audio stream went down too many times, it was more trouble than it was worth as I had to re-sync the feeds again. I don’t know if there’s any real trick to doing it other than just listening to the commentary and finding the matching action. I tried to start with the anthems if possible, but it sometimes took game action to get it done. Goal kicks were perfect as there is usually a mic nearby and the sound came through with the English commentary.
Yeah, soccer fans lose in this. Not only did Fox show the games live via a couple channels, they also showed additional games on delay. The soccer fan has lost with Turner winning the rights.
does B/R live really wait 24hrs to make replays available? i thought it would be shortly after the match is over. good to know
That’s what their q&a says (24 hrs) but I think in practice it is later that day for UCL matches.
All in all. Coverage of the CL and EL of english language rights have taken a deep dive into the crapper. Its completely ludicrous with all the channels available to turner/cbs not to see all the games.
Those who speak English and are used to watching the Champions League in Hi Def on FS1, FS2 and FSN simultaneously on Tuesdays and Wednesdays should all be very disappointed!
I do not agree with this article at all, the author does not seem to be versed in the situation…. Premier League fans are disrespected all season now too… especially week one as Liverpool is the only team on TNT…. As a Spurs fan, I will have to watch our game vs Inter on low def Galavision with Spanish announcers…. This new deal is BOGUS!!!! I will also not be blackmailed to pay an extra $80 (over 8 months) to BR to watch a PC stream either….
$80 is so outrageous. When you compare the cost of NBC Sports Gold and ESPN Plus, Turner is in way over their heads if they think that many people are going to sign up for this. It’s unfortunate soccer coverage is becoming so expensive now in the U.S with all these different leagues on different providers.
One small benefit to getting bleacher report is that you will see all the matches, even the one on the linear network. ESPN plus won’t give you content that is on the ESPN mothership. NBC sports gold doesn’t have games that are on the cable channels.
NBCGold also doesn’t promise to have 100% of the games on demand. they will have most, but not all of them.
Liverpool versus Paris was always bound to be on TNT. However, Tottenham versus inter-Milan was a pretty big snub. The fact that so many English teams got left out is partly a byproduct of the way UEFA scheduled the 1 PM and 3 PM games.
With PSG, real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus, and Byron Munich all high profile teams , the English Premier league clubs aren’t going to have too many slots available to them over the group stage. Having only two clubs on TNT will probably be the norm.
This Absolutely sucks!! No Europa League and now almost no Champions League!!
Chris,
Is it possible to obtain, at least approximately, the number of ESPN+, NBC Sports Gold and B/R Live subscribers? Or is that one of those untouchable business secrets?
I’ve asked NBC Sports for a number in the past, but they were not willing to share. I haven’t asked Bleacher Report, but I’m anticipating I would get the same response. As for ESPN+, I’ve heard rumors of more than 200,000 subscribers.
For all three services, it’s early days though so numbers will increase over time.
Thanks Chris.
More than a million bucks per month. Not bad for a beginner!
only thing i like so far about B/R live is the option to purchase single matches at 2.99 instead of subscribing monthly or annually. i wish espn+ would do that so i only pay for matches i want to see
The Hispanic audience are also big losers. ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes didn’t show all games live but they always showed the most important ones. The ones that weren’t shown on TV live were shown on the ESPN App or Facebook or on tape delay. After having a decade of great coverage on ESPN/Fox Deportes now we’ll have to suffer with Univision’s awful coverage. Most Hispanics will most likely agree that Univision is terrible. Their commentators are horrible, they crack bad jokes throughout the match, they pretty much want try to make it all about themselves. ESPN and Fox’s commentators and analysts are miles ahead of Univision’s, especially when it comes to European football. Going from Fernando Palomo to Edgar Martinez is a HUGE downgrade, Univision’s analysts are comparable to FOX Soccer’s English language analysts, I’m already dreading Univision plugging their telenovelas every 2 minutes during a very important match or sending a telenovela star to cover a the UCL final, which I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.
Just checked out the TV schedule. Looks like I’ll be skipping the group stages as the options are very limited. Spurs and United are not even on? Give me a break. I’ll check back at the knockouts to see if it gets any better. I’ll stick with EPL games for the time being. Without Fox or ESPN having the rights the coverage is very limited.
The streaming quality of B/R Live is poor. Definitely 30fps, which is not the best for football. Every time the ball is played in the air, the ball leaves a pixelated trail. However, I am glad B/R Live gave a 5-minute preview, which allowed me to see the frame rate. Did anyone pay for a full match, and, if so, did the fps improve?
Cheers.
ANYONE WHO THINKS THIS IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN FOX IS A TOTAL MORON.
HOW could this possibly be better? Where we had FS1, FS2, and FSC covering most every single match for free , we now only get coverage of what – 46 matches in total on TNT? Of Champions league only, and NO Europa coverage on TNT at all? Yes, we can get everything – like we used to, BUT ONLY IF WE APY EXTRA? To stream it off the net onto our TV’s? HOW IS ANY OF THIS BETTER THAN FREE COVERAGE ON FOX? Especially if (like me) you only ever really cared to watch the English Premier League teams? And I also enjoyed watching the Europa competition, but now that’s all gone…due to greed. From what I understand it’s a really great deal if you’re a sports writer, and already have / had all the necessary connections, etc to make the transition from FREE TV to PAY streaming…but for regular fans who aren’t in the business of writing articles for anyone for a living, and just loved, and enjoyed the game, and the fact that it was ALL ON FREE TV, and now it isn’t – THIS SUCKS. We just got bent over, and royally screwed by the man – AGAIN. (I bet this comment won’t get published)